


hold your tongue, earn your rest

by 4wholecats



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [21]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Bad Future Timeline (Fire Emblem), Blood and Gore, Febuwhump 2021, Gen, Injury, Necromancy, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:07:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29343315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4wholecats/pseuds/4wholecats
Summary: He’d always assumed he’d die on the battlefield, axe in hand. Fate rarely cares for the assumptions of mortal men.
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114982
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	hold your tongue, earn your rest

**Author's Note:**

> ok this one has a paragraph of Really Graphic torture descriptions in the middle so just be aware this one is intense. stay safe gamers!

The hooded figure drags the bone saw across his leg slowly, holding it just high enough for its teeth to catch on the fabric of his pants. The edge is rusty and blunted, worn down from years of rough use. Frederick relates to the tool, in this moment. 

“And do you know what we used this for?” the cultist continues, lifting the saw and pressing it against Frederick’s cheek hard enough to draw blood. The knight winces, avoiding eye contact and holding his tongue. No matter what, he would not speak.

The hooded man pauses as he waits for an answer, humming under his breath when he does not get one. “We used this on the pegasus woman, last…” he continues. “The one with the beautiful red hair. We asked her these self-same questions… and she did not answer. Do you know what we did to her then?”

No answer. His sole purpose is to remain silent.

“We cut off her limbs… one by one… until she was nothing but a writhing torso on the ground,  _ begging _ for us to kill her. We flayed her of her beautiful skin, we toiled with her insides, we strew her on the dragon’s altar- and yet, she still lived! Babbling about your king, begging for her daughter- even after we removed her teeth and tongue from her mouth… such resilience can only be a result of Naga’s blessings… oh… but Naga has not revealed herself to any of you… has she?”

The saw is back on his leg again, right above the knee. He doesn’t bother to fight against his bindings. They’ve already slashed the tendons of his ankles. There’s no running away now.

He’d always assumed he’d die on the battlefield, axe in hand. Fate rarely cares for the assumptions of mortal men.

“So...tell me, knight,” the Grimleal growls, grabbing a fistful of Frederick’s hair and angling his face upwards. “Where is your army hiding the Fire Emblem?”

No answer.

“Does the Princess have it? Or have you stored it away until she’s old enough to use it?”

No answer. The hand in his hair curls tighter.

“The Exalt, then?”

No answer.

“Is it in Ylisstol… or have you moved it elsewhere?”

No answer. The corner of his eye stings from strain.

The hand shoves his head back so quickly that he sees stars for a moment, unaware that it’s let him go until the saw begins to dig its wretched teeth into his thigh, cutting through the muscles connecting his knee to the rest of his body. He does open his mouth then, but words have long left him, and only a final, defiant yell of pain remains.

“ _ Fine. _ You will not speak?  _ We will make you useful yet. _ ”

\---

Lissa raises her head as a knock thuds hollowly against her bedroom door. Stahl shuffles in, tracking blood onto the Exalt’s carpet as he drags something heavy behind him, his body keeping it just out of view.

“Stahl?” Lissa asks, tilting her head in that childish way that she still hasn’t quite grown out of. The end of the world has its way of stagnating the mind. Somedays, she still thinks she’s sixteen, still too young for the weight of her sister’s mantle. 

She’s pushing thirty now. The crown still refuses to make its home in her wild hair. 

Stahl sighs as he bows. His armor is splattered with gore and covered in dents. He must have just gotten back from patrol-

“Exalt Lissa… I have… bad news.”

Lissa looks away from him, back towards the cracked and dirty mirror. She doesn’t want to see his gift. She already knows what it is. “... You found him?”

“Yes,” Stahl answers. “They sent him to the town just west of here… I assume Ylisstol was his next stop.”

Risen armies sweeping the countryside, with the corpses of the Shepherds’ fallen leading the charge. Lissa squeezes her eyes shut as she remembers Cordelia’s body- fragmented yet articulated, scratching at her windows from the back of a ghastly beast that could no longer be called a pegasus. More and more. Every day, they lose more and more.

“Did-” her voice cracks, “did you remember to-”

“Of course. We burned all the remains. He’s not coming back, in any form.”

Something thuds lightly against the wall near the door. Frederick’s axe, probably. Another token of remembrance for her to bury instead of a body.

“Good,” she whispers, still refusing to look. “He’s earned his rest.”

**Author's Note:**

> awakening bad future timeline has so much potential for this specific challenge...


End file.
